Subsidized Toshiba Netbook Comes With 3G, Windows XP

Looks like you can add Toshiba to the ranks of netbook brands going the subsidy route. Over the weekend, jkOTR reader Hector Gomez and I both saw the deal in this week’s Best Buy circular — which is actually square, not circular at all. The standard $399 price for a Toshiba NB-205 looks like it got jacked up by $100 because the netbook alone is advertised at $499. I suspect that’s simply to make the subsidy deal look more attractive, because this configuration is routinely $399. In any case, you can nab the NB-205 for $299 with integrated HSPA service through AT&T (s t) for the next two years. If you’d rather go with integrated EVDO on the Verizon (s v) or Sprint (s s) network, you’ll pay $229. In either case, you’ll be paying $1,440 over the next two years for your service, so don’t overlook that budgetary point. ;)

More interesting is the netbook’s configuration because it’s the same as what I bought in August of this year. This is the Windows XP Home version of the NB-205 with the 1.66GHz Intel (s intc) Atom and 160 GB hard drive. Now that Windows 7 is available, I would have expected this deal to come with Microsoft’s (s msft) latest operating system. Of course, that would likely be the Starter Edition, which does have a few limitations. Does anyone else find it odd that this deal features Windows XP and not Windows 7?

For many of us, W7 has been out a year. XP is archaic for consumers, no way I’m buying a computer that runs it. And I’d rather not upgrade myself, as I want to know for sure the vendor has provided all required drivers.

I saw this at Best Buy yesterday. Was very interested until I hit the power button and saw XP loading. Was thinking I could buy full price and migrate my Sprint data plan onto it. I think it must have a Gobi chip, or similar, in it since it mentioned multiple carriers.